Temple Grandin transforms our views of how animals and autistic people perceive the world

Sept. 21, 2006 -- Temple Grandin will present a lecture on "The Boundaries of Humanity" at 11 a.m., October 4, in Graham Chapel as part of the Assembly Series.

Temple Grandin

Her groundbreaking 1986 book, Emergence: Labeled Autistic, provides an "inside narrative" of autism and broke the silence about the issue. Since then, she has become a role model for thousands.

She has been featured on television programs, such as "ABC's Primetime Live," "The Today Show," "48 Hours," "Larry King Live," and featured in national publications such as Time, People, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Discover and The New York Times. She was one of the "challenged" people featured in Oliver Sacks' best selling book Anthropologist from Mars.

Grandin is also known for being a passionate and effective animal advocate and for explaining to humans how animals think. Her 2005 book, Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior, explores the nature of animal awareness and autism and how humans and animals connect. She spearheaded reform for the quality of life and humaneness of death for farm animals, and has convinced McDonalds and other companies to use more humane methods in slaughterhouses.

She is an associate professor of animal science at Colorado State University (Fort Collins) and is a consultant and designer of humane livestock handling facilities. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Franklin Pierce College (1970), a master's degree in animal science from Arizona State University (1975), and a Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Illinois (1989).

A panel discussion expanding on the themes in Grandin's talk will follow from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Women's Building Lounge.

Both events are free and open to the public. Graham Chapel is located north of Mallinckrodt Center on the Washington University Danforth campus.

For more information, call (314) 935-4620 or visit the Assembly Series Web page (http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu).